Vindicated
by Blue Quartz
Summary: SMYYH AU No senshi yet. As if being a young teacher wasn't enough trouble Ami comes across a few more stumbling blocks that leads to unanswered questions, confusion, insanity...and love! AmiKurama.
1. Sapphire

Vindicated  
  
Notes: Yes...it's true. I am a new-fic-starting-holic! 'starts crying and then bashes hands against the keyboard that for some reason form coherent words without out meaning to' Lame title I know, since oh I don't know since it has been used at least dozens of other times as of now 'winces'. I have submitted to yet another weakness two actually, Yu Yu Hakusho and Yoko/Kurama 'bows at yoko/kurama alter along with all my other pretty anime/manga boy shrines' And in result of creating this fic I have managed to merge another favorite thing...not saying just what yet...well that and the summary must have given it away 'sweat drop'  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Sailor Moon or Yu Yu Hakusho, or the lyrics quoted in the beginning of the chapter... but I have kidnapped Kurama and blackmailed him into marrying me   
  
'Humbly bows' I hope you all enjoy this fic. I just hope that I haven't messed up something so think of it sort of AU. Oh and as perusal some OOC is expected   
  
Summery: Not giving away anything But this will cross-over...well duh, between both universes and will go back to the Silver Millennium so it might be kind of confusing at first.  
  
Prologue  
Sapphire  
  
Like the diamond in your ring Cut to mirror your intention Oversized and overwhelmed The shine of which has caught my eye  
  
"Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional  
  
Staring longingly at the rain covered stained glass a small pale hand moved down the cold surface. Behind the figure were sounds of yet another lively gathering. Nervous fingers trembled slightly as slender delicate fingers moved a small curling lock of azure hair behind a shell-shaped ear. Fidgeting slightly in place she tried so hard to remain calm and composed as her eyes drew themselves away from the glass to the party. Clothed in a dress of the finest silk that gold could buy she looked ever bit the part that she always seemed to be typecast into. The reluctant and shy belle of the ball, dressed in rich clothes, her voice mousy and soft-spoken with hints of sincerity that shouldn't be trusted.  
  
How she loathed these gatherings, what purpose did they serve? No stimulating intellectual conversation. These dances were just validated excuses for men and women to shamelessly flaunt their sensuality to one another. All the peahens fussing over one another while silently envying each other's choice in over-expensive clothing, gaudy jewelry, or even as far as lusting after their chosen's mates. The men were no better, strutting around like bland peacocks, for their mates had stolen their bold and wondrous colorful plumage; the eyes of the young, the old, the spoken for, and the bachelor glancing hungrily at every exposed heel of a well- groomed female.  
  
This life was so superficial and pointless that sometimes she was so tempted just to throw herself off of the balcony...but on the other hand since she was the princess so if she were to commit suicide whom would be left to take over the throne to Mercury upon her parent's passing.  
  
'A whole lifetime of this,' she mused inwardly. The balcony was becoming more appealing with each passing moment.  
  
Leaning against the wall she tried to keep out of sight from the festivities that were being held in her honor. She turned seventeen this evening...a adult now, also a more than eligible young lady. The moon had yet to fully rise and she had seen at least ten men approach her father and mother. With a cold sneer she could almost guess, without arrogance, that they were inquiring about taking her hand in marriage. Amazing how one could go from being utterly ignored and shun by the opposite sex until they found out that you were royalty and you were also of age then men she had never even seen before we all but tripping over themselves just to talk with her.  
  
A hard scowl marred her heart-shaped faced, 'Utterly disgusting,' she inwardly hissed as she watched an envied world revolve without noticing her, for who was she but yet another pawn in these power struggles?  
  
Tilting her head back the blue-haired princess gazed up at the ambient glow of the silver and gold chandeliers. Her doe-like ocean eyes blinked, she could have sworn that she saw something.... no it was just her imagination for as soon as she opened her eyes again it was gone.  
  
On the other hand, a self-assured smirk curled on her lips but she quickly wiped it off of her face before she leaned forward and whispered an excuse to her mother and father. Raising to her feet the princess moved to leave the ballroom but just as she reached the foot of the stairs the thousands of candles held by the chandeliers were blown out in a collective snuff. All around the ballroom voices started as murmurs but then gasps and louder inquires began, all eyes turned towards the dais where the king and queen still sat. The princess rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "Cowards, a little bit of darkness won't kill you."  
  
Suddenly a loud scream pierced through the air just as servants had grabbed ladders to relight the chandeliers.  
  
"My brooch! My diamond brooch is missing!" the woman screamed as if someone had just slit her throat rather than stolen a trinket.  
  
Soon other cries came as men and women suddenly realized that they too were relived of their earthly treasures.  
  
Glaring into the darkness she could easily see the form as it slunk from person to person, effortlessly slipping off their bejeweled decoration without them even noticing until they would reach up to touch their throat or suddenly feel less weight on their hands. It moved so swiftly that the form was invisible to the eyes of others but she on the other hand could not only see the form but knew that it's identity or at least the name of the phantom like creature.  
  
Just as the "ghost" moved towards to make flee the princess defiantly stood blocking his path. Her blue eyes were literal chips of ice as she looked up at the figure holding a cloth bag filled with the jewelry. At first his eye amber eyes grew wide with surprise but he quickly covered it up with an arrogant smirk.  
  
"So...you were lying."  
  
"What was I suppose to do? Tell you that I was a princess? Oh that would have been rich Yoko, a royal running alongside thieves," she replied bitterly then slowly moved aside to let him pass by her.  
  
Instead of just walking by he grabbed her right hand and slipped the missing ring onto her finger as if it was never absent in the first place.  
  
"Keep it," she replied shortly.  
  
He laughed, "You should be grateful that I am letting you keep it. I am a thief your majesty it's not ethical in my business to return what I have stolen. Besides," he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger.  
  
A fine shutter ran through her spine, the sensation of his lips brushing her skin invoked too many feelings, not unwelcome but at the same time she knew that this conversation would lead to a place that she couldn't return to.  
  
"I have to stay here," she said quietly, "I am not the same person."  
  
"I haven't said anything about you coming back," the kitsune thief replied. With a small sigh the princess withdrew her hand from his grasp.  
  
"Then this is good-bye," she whispered, disappointment clear in her tone.  
  
He snorted but played along, "Good-bye, princess Ami."  
  
A blink of her eyes and he was gone, just like she had expected. While the chandeliers were relit she left the ballroom to retire to her rooms, away from the growing chaos and the growing noise of accusations.  
  
Glancing around the alabaster halls she tried so hard to will thoughts of him out of her mind. He was a painful reminder of who she once was, of her mistakes that she was no atoning for, of a bitter give-and-take relationship that was a mockery of affection. Once she was forted between the familiar four walls of her room she quickly kicked off her shoes and threw herself onto her bed. Burying her face into the pillow her eyes grew wide as she realized the ring he had slid on her finger wasn't hers. Running a finger gently across it the ring of bright gold with a white diamond in the center suddenly crumbled to ashes in her hand.  
  
At first she didn't know whether she felt shocked or angry but then an unexpected bubble of laughter escaped her throat.  
  
She quelled her laughter, a small smile on her lips as she moved to close the windows to her balcony...the way he was able to enter the palace in the first place.  
  
"Of course. It would have been a shame to have expected anything less from you Yoko."  
  
Notes: winces, I know it's crappy, but I just couldn't get it out of my head 'wails' so go ahead and flame me but I'll still add chapters cause it won't get out of my head! It's times like this that I loathe writing --. Review if you like it, flame it if you hate it, want me to write more just ask but even if you don't I still will cause I am stubborn. 


	2. Diamonds in the Rough

Vindicated

Notes: Nothing really much to say other then well sorry for being so late updating 'sweat drop' I've made a New Year's resolution to update at least one of my fics per weekend and well I think I might have fallen back on my promise slightly .

Disclaimers: Still don't own Sailor Moo… same goes for YHH and the song 'Vindicated' by Dashboard Confessional…'sniffles' I also think that I've misplaced Karuma!!! I mean he was 'right here' and now he's gone! 'Runs away weeping.'

P.S: Review thankies is at the end of the chapter so if nothing else read those!

Chapter Two

Diamonds in the Rough

**_Hope dangles on a string… "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional_**

The toast had popped up burnt to a crisp, her hot shower was rudely interrupted by a sudden dose of frigid water thanks to the unreliable water heater, and now she couldn't find her keys.

Wandering around the house the petite blue haired woman began to search every nook and cranny for her keychain. Pulling back the well worn faux Persian rug; she didn't find the keys, she did however discover a rather vicious looking tribe of dust bunnies, so she wisely placed the rug corner allowing the savage natives to settle. With an 'ugh' of disgust she wiped off the dust and lint that had 'attacked' her once immaculate kaki skirt before rising up to keep searching.

"Where are those keys?" she muttered to herself as she turned over various pieces of cheap apartment furniture, the kind that you just know are just pretty substitutes to the milk crate decor that you had in your college dorm.

Within minutes she had searched the entire apartment and has yet to locate the elusive keys. A quick glance at the clock tacked to her wall by…well a thumb tack…told her that she was officially twenty minutes too late to catch the first subway train. In short she would have to run all the way to the sub station and cram herself into a sardine can of people then run from the station to her new job; only if Fate suddenly decided to be kind to her would she be on time. And it's all because those damn keys just had to sprout legs and walk off!

Pausing in the middle of her living room the young woman gave into a desperate sigh. Running her right hand through her pixie-cut locks of azure blue the young woman started to mutter to herself.

"Okay Ami, just calm down and think. Where did you leave those keys at last?"

Silence greeted her question which was good considering that she really wasn't expecting an answer.

Growling slightly in frustration she continued her search but as she brushed past one of her dinning room chairs the morning paper feel headline page first to the ground followed by a clattering jingle. Turning quickly on her heel Ami gasped when she saw her keys laying neatly on top of the newspaper. Scooping up the prodigal keychain into her hand she gave a small whoop of triumph and then preceded to bounce around in a most unbecoming fashion not that she cared though because she had found her keys! Let the world rejoice and sing…suddenly she stopped in mid celebration and with a short cough regained her composure because what would people think if she danced around her living room just because she found her keys?

Following the discovery of the elusive keys Ami was making her daily dash out into the streets of Tokyo were the rule was trample or be trampled especially when it came to the race for subway cars. All too soon Ami had to squeeze herself into a nearly imposable position, her left hand raised to hold onto the tether coming from the ceiling of the car and her right clasped tightly around her briefcase.

Glancing around she saw that once again the train car was filled to the gills with sardines of people that pressed and leaned on each other for support.

Just as the gentleman behind her slipped his hand into his own tether the doors closed and the subway train propelled itself through the seemingly endless tunnels. A small sigh escaped Ami's lips as she glanced around the train of passengers, these morning train rides were so tedious and like to put her to sleep it she wasn't trying to keep such a firm grasp on the handle above her head.

Suddenly something caught her eye, straight ahead of her a young woman with long blonde hair that would have reached her waist if it wasn't for the large red ribbon in her hair holding some of it back, but the blonde in particular wasn't what she took notice of but rather the headline article of her outspread newspaper.

It of course was the same edition that Ami had had her apartment but she had been too busy to even bother a glance at it. Now for some reason the paper she could easily dismiss at home suddenly became so fascinating within the hands of a complete stranger.

"**_Art Thief Still Eludes Police" _**the headline blared and right below it was a supposed picture of the 'thief'.

It looked like a young man whom appeared to be about her age. He was wearing a sort of white toga kind of like what the Romans use to wear. He was tall and rather muscular in build, and just like his toga his hair was white, long, and flowing. But what really got Ami were the eyes. They were a deep almond color almost golden in fact and they were formed in such a way that almost made them look cat like…no "cat" wasn't right more like…

"A fox…" Ami whispered to herself as she continued to stare at the picture and then started to read the article below.

'For six months this thief has broken into many art and cultural museums all around Japan….blah blah…; what's so unusual about this thief is that instead of escaping as soon as he steals he is arrogant enough linger at the scene of the crime long enough to boast of his exploits to police, whom arrive to capture him only, to make a clean get away…'

The article continued to the end of the page but Ami couldn't quite see it so she leaned forward slightly to get a better look.

'Many whom have seen this thief say he looks a lot like a cosplayer since he wears a long toga, colored contacts, and even a pair of kitsune ears normally worn by anime cosplayers. Despite his 'harmless' and outright ridiculous appearance police say that he is quite dangerous and upon encounter one must be very cautious…"

Deciding not to read the rest of the article Ami glanced back up at the picture with a thoughtful frown, this time she noticed the white kitsune ears.

'I don't think he looks ridiculous…well those ears do look silly but beside that he looks very..."

However her train of thought was derailed when the subway train itself hit a nasty bump on the tracks and lurched forward. The lights flickers as Ami found herself hanging onto her tether for dear life.

The train soon recovered it's bearings as did it's passenger's. Rising up Ami glanced around only to give a gasp as she felt a hand sneak up behind her left leg and up her skirt.

For a moment she froze, having no idea what to do she, then it hit her or rather her offender. She swung her right arm and smacked the pervert in the head with her heavy briefcase.

She heard a hard thud and turned her head giving the young man laying on the floor a heated glare.

"Let that be a lesson to you, pervert!" Ami snapped.

"It wasn't me!" he protested loudly only to wince as his aching head gave a painful throb.

"Oh really?" Ami said sacristy obviously not believing his claim.

"Yes. But I saw the man who did do it," he said as he rose to his feet then pushed his way through the masses of people.

"What the…?" Ami whispered as she followed the mass of red hair that the young man was under.

She watched as he picked his way around the train until he found his 'victim'.

In front of a packed audience the young man lifted a graying old man off his feet by his shirt collar.

For a split second Ami stood, not a single muscle moving…well nothing but her dropped jaw that is. As soon as she recovered from initial shock she pushed her way through the stilled crowd whom were all staring at the ruckus being made by the young man.

At last she reached him and even though she was nearly a foot shorter than him she roughly grabbed on his right shirt sleeve, "Let him go!"

He glanced down at her with cold green eyes, "Why should I let him go? You're the one who wanted him to pay for his actions."

"How do you know he was the one who did it?" Ami questioned, "The lights were flickering when it happened. How could you have seen him do it?"

"I saw him walk away as soon as the lights turned back on."

"He might have been trying to get closer to the doors so that he can get off at the next stop." Ami pleaded.

"Hmm really? Well we'll just see about that." the young man said as he glanced down at the elderly 'culprit'.

Wincing from the stare the elderly man started to mumble something.

"You're going to have to speak up 'sir' or she won't be able to hear your apology."

Sweat collected on the balding head of the elder, he licked his now dry lips as he glanced from the irate young man to his small female friend. There was no way around it, he could either be embarrassed now or suffer the cruelness at the hands of this insane child.

"I…I am sorry for my despicable act," the old man said clearly as he bowed his head.

The train slowed to a stop; as soon as the door opened the young man pushed to the front of the line and deposited the pervert on the platform.

"No wait this isn't my stop!" the old man yelled but the doors closed again and the train moved onward.

Walking back to his spot he saw that the blue haired woman was still standing there. With a questioning glance he grasped his tether just as the train was picking up speed.

Silence surrounded the two of them, both just staring at each other…for no particular reason.

On Ami's side of the world she was baffled.

She would swear on a stack of Bibles that she had never seen this man before in her life but there was something vaguely familiar about him. But it was like trying to cup water into her hands because as soon as she got a clear picture of just where and when she might have met him before it just slid away from her comprehension.

He cleared his throat slightly which brought Ami out of her thoughts.

"I…uh thank you by the way…" Ami said bowing…or at least tried to since it was still so crowded.

"You're welcome," he replied.

Tension and silence settled in again as Ami tried so hard to keep her mouth closed on the matter but then just couldn't help herself.

"You have to admit though. You could have handled that a bit better though." Ami began; she glanced up at the young man to see if she would get a reaction.

No reaction at all, he still glanced down at her with a puzzled stare.

"Do I…know you from somewhere?" he asked.

Ami cocked her head to the side, "Well no not before now," she said.

He still looked very confused.

The train crawled to a stop again. Ami let go of her tether and made her way to the open doors.

His eyes grew wide for a second, "Wait!"

"I can't, this is my stop." Ami said.

"It will only take a second…" he began but she slipped through the doors which slammed in his face.

"Damnit," he whispered to himself.

Ami was so never so relieved then when the lunch bell rang. Her students bolted out of their desks, carrying their lunches in hand they walked out of the door, migrating to the outside, chattering and giggling all the way.

One must be either near insane or have a death wish to teach junior high children.

Ami was grateful to be neither…sometimes however the kids would drive her to both extremes.

They were just at the age where they realize that yes they have a free will but that also leads them into conflicts with authority and the rules. Not yet teenagers but not 'children' either.

Taking out her lunch Ami was about to start eating but was interrupted when Shingo Tuskino opened the door to her room.

Glancing to the door Ami smiled slightly, "Shingo-kun. What are you doing here? Don't you want to eat lunch with your classmates."

The young man blushed and shook his head, "Not really Miss Mizuno."

"Well you can eat in here if you want." Ami said.

The boy slid into his desk on the front row and placed his lunch in front of him.

Ami started to nibble on her rice, trying to search her mind for the right question.

From the first day of school Shingo had been on of her best students, not to mention the fact that he followed her around like a puppy dog. But no matter how carefree he seemed there always seemed to be something troubling him.

Today was no different.

At the end of the first semester his mother had confided in Ami that his older sister, who was only two years younger than Ami, was very sick and about two years ago had slipped into a coma.

Her illness had put a lot of strain on the family even more so since there has been no sign of her improving.

Ami would never say a word to Shingo about it though.

School really wasn't the place for such personal discussions.

But at the same time Ami honestly wished that she could help Shingo.

That seemed almost imposable though since the only thing that could reverted him back to a more stable state would be the healing of his big sister, Usagi Tuskino.

Night enveloped the white light city of Tokyo. Like many huge cities all over the world this one never seemed to sleep, there was always activity. Always people crowding the sidewalks, the subway cars, and of course crowding the shops.

One thing he was very grateful though was that the museums and art galleries closed just as the sun sank.

Carefully he tip-toed around the red laser wire coming ever closer to his prize; laying in it's glass case taunting him had to be one of the most beautiful jewel he had ever seen…but then again anything he didn't "own" was utterly beautiful.

A sly smirk crossed his lips showing off a hint of a pointed fang as he reached the case.

He could just lift the covering off of the jewel but that would make the job too easy, without any style what so ever…not to mention that it would trip another alarm and he would like to linger over his prize before alerting the police just yet.

Extending a clawed hand he cut a deep circular hole into the glass then with a slight tap popped the circle out of the glass. Reaching down into the case he plucked the large sapphire and platinum ring from it's purple velvet cushion.

The display lights caused the platinum to sparkle like a pounded diamond, the ring itself was decorated with miniature figures carved out of the platinum. They were mermaids who's slender arched bodies and curved tails formed the circle of the ring, their delicate hands raised up to hold the oval cut sapphire that was surrounded by seven diamonds with one more diamond carved into the very core of the sapphire.

The sapphire it self seemed to positively glow with it's own radiance. Just like a beautiful woman it held secrets against him because it's depth concealed so much.

"The Sapphire of Hermes," he whispered to himself as he continued to gaze at the gorgeous gem.

'A deep ocean blue…just like her eyes…" his 'other half mused'

'Who's eyes?" he questioned.

'Remember the girl we…you 'saved.'

"Aw come on you still can't be sore about that…"

'You could have gotten us into big trouble Yoko and most likely all these treasures that you've been 'collecting' for almost a year would have been discovered.'

He gave an exaggerated a yawn, 'No wonder women don't like you Kurama, you talk too much. And if I remember right you wanted that old fart to get his just as much as I did. I knew you would be too spineless to do it on your own so I took over for a little while.'

'…True but you didn't have to draw so much attention.'

"Whatever, " Yoko said aloud with a shrug as he slipped the 'Sapphire of Hermes' onto his right ring finger then walked towards the nearest laser wire.

"What do you say we give the guards a wake up call?" he chuckled to himself as he lifted his left foot to break the barrier.

Suddenly a metal chain wrapped around his right hand.

Whipping his head around he followed the chain up to the ledge just above him.

Crouching low was a young blonde haired girl wearing a sailor uniform and red high heels, her small hands coiled around the golden chain which had curled around his wrist.

His lips split into a wide feral grin, "Well well. What do we have here?" he purred before he jerked hard on the chain intending to send the girl flying but she merely flipped in mid-air and landed on her feet with her hands still grasped tightly around the chain.

Her face took on a bubbly expression as she glanced at the thief, "Good to see you again Yoko. I trust that you haven't forgotten me."

He chuckled softly, "Ah and who could forget you? The lovely and valiant Sailor V."

"Oh stop it Yoko, you're making me blush," Sailor V teased but her levity left her as she broke off a portion of her chain transforming it into a broadsword while still holding the chain with the other end.

Yoko startled laughing, "Now V-chan. You don't intend to kill me do you?"

"Only if you don't cooperate," Sailor V responded as she walked closer to him until the tip of her broadsword just barely brushed against his chest.

"I don't see why you are so upset about…"

"You've taken something very precious to me Yoko now fork it over. If you give it to me I'll let you go."

With his free hand Yoko grabbed at the chain. "I am afraid that I can't comply with your 'request' V-chan. The mark of a good thief is that he never gives back anything he has stolen."

"I need it though!" Sailor V growled as she tightened her grip on the chain.

"Why? It's just a piece of jewelry."

"I have my reasons. Now give it back!"

Yoko sighed, "Doesn't anyone say 'please' anymore?" he asked a split second before he ducked the blind swipe that Sailor V had taken at him with her sword and swung his foot out to catch her feet.

She saw his foot come out but couldn't move fast enough to dodge it so she crumbled to the ground.

Yoko jerked free of the chain and bolted towards the ceiling and through the skylight.

Sailor V narrowed her baby blue eyes at the retreating kitsune thief.

For years she had been trying to hunt down and capture this thief who was stealing the 'Gems of the Cosmos.' Each of the eight gems had been designed and constructed by single craftsman years ago….centuries even…or better yet a millennium ago. All of those eight gems as marvelous as they appeared they were nothing compared to the fabled ninth gem.

The Imperial Silver Crystal, famed jewel that many art historians argue never existed since it was rumored to have been able to hold all eight of the other gems.

Most likely Yoko was working his way to get all nine of the gems.

This would cause a lot of problems.

She only knew him casually but she didn't want him to get hurt since they weren't the only ones searching for the gems and the Imperial Crystal.

She really needed all of the gems to reawaken her princess. Time was coming too close for the final battle to allow errors so it was vital that she needed to get the two…now three gems he had in his possession before 'they' find him and take those gems from him by force.

Notes: A bit of a cliffhanger ending I know but trust me if I went on this chapter would have gone on forever and a day 'sweat drop'

Thanks goes out to…

Sumi Toshino: Thanks for reviewing! And you're not strange…I am though and proud of it too

Mistress of Ice: **tackles to get stuff** Uh thank you by the way. I hope you liked this chapter.

Minimerc: 'blushes' thank you very much…however I think the first chapter might have been a bit of a fluke since this chapter is slightly different than what I had in mind during the beginning.

Scarlet Angel 16: 'huggles' Thank you!!! Uh this update isn't 'soon' but I hope you like it.


	3. SemiPrecious

Vindicated

Notes: bows My humble apologies for deleting the second chapter but once I started writing this ((honestly intending to make it the third chapter 'sweat drop' it just seemed to fit better into the plot I have created and I also think that it introduces Yoko…as well as a few other characters a little better . So please forgive me especially to those whom reviewed the second chapter))

Chapter Two

Semi-Precious

'_**And roped me in, so mesmerizing, hypnotizing. I am captivated' "Vindicated' by Dashboard Confessional**_

Weeks went by but still there were reports about this sensational jewel thief, the blurred and grainy pictures of this 'cosplay criminal' graced the covers of just about every newspaper as well as follow up articles that seemed to only fuel hype reports, almost like sightings of the Yeti or the Loch Ness Monster.

And like any closet fanatic Ami collected every scrape of paper that bore even the slightest allusion to this now infamous criminal.

It wasn't just the astonishing feats of his heists and how he always manages to escape that fascinated her, but the fact that she had always held an interest in mystery and intrigue since she was a child. Sometimes she wondered if maybe she had entered the wrong profession and should have become a police officer or maybe a forensic detective instead of a junior high teacher.

Flipping through yet another newspaper trying to pick up any clues to any weakness that this 'phantom thief'. Not exactly a practical use of her time but what else was there to do on an early Saturday evening?

She had already graded her student's homework and class work assignments for the week and she had her plans for the up coming week planed so she really had nothing else to do with her time…well unless some random and dashingly handsome young man just decided to call her house and ask her out on a date.

Ami gave an unladylike snort, 'Ha, like THAT will every happen.' She thought as she roughly pushed the newspaper back then she glared at it for a moment, as if she was blaming the seemingly innocent stack of papers for her being a lonely old maid….well not 'old' since she was in her early twenties…nor lonely since she still had her mother and some old college and high school friends for company….but despite those two corrections she still felt isolated.

'And who's fault is that?' the bitter side of her squeaked.

Ignoring the nagging inner voice Ami turned her head to the bookshelves just opposite of her couch. Crammed onto the shelves were dozens of books, all neatly organized by category and then alphabetically…most of them very knowledge related but a few were some good novels that she enjoyed to flip through from time to time.

With a small sigh she slowly stood up and walked to the shelve and picked up a old and dog-eared romance novel that she hadn't read in a long while and then headed to the bathroom to cure her suddenly cold and empty night with a hot bubble bath and the romantic lives of fictional characters.

'That's right Ami-chan; just live your life through other's experiences. You know what is even more pathetic? They are not real! Isn't that just hilarious!'

Ami winced and slammed the bathroom door shut but didn't bother to lock it since the lock kept getting jammed. Since it was just her living in the apartment she figured that it would do any harm to leave it unlocked, plus it would be rather embarrassing to end up starving to death in a locked bathroom.

Quickly disrobing Ami wrapped a short towel around her body and then turned on the hot water. It steamed out of the spout in a mini-waterfall fashion and then suddenly started to foam when she poured in a pastel blue liquid. After a few minutes she stuck her foot out and daintily tested the temperature and depth of the water with her foot, since it was impossible to judge visually with the mountain of bubbles. Finding everything to perfection Ami took off the towel and slowly eased herself into the steaming mound of bubbles then leaning back picked up her book and shoved her circular reading glasses further up her slender nose.

Just above her was a small skylight that showed a smoggy evening for Tokyo, even the dim stars and orange moon were blocked out.

However, light or lack there of didn't matter to one person. In fact he actually preferred these murky nights; such evenings seem to fit into his mischievous mood.

After a couple of weeks of laying low and letting reports and police think what they will now he was bored with being on his 'best behavior' especially since his latest acquisition was only a few miles from his apartment building.

With lightning speed he glided across the marble floor of the museum, his moments so quick and silent that it didn't even faze the small army of security guards that were prowling the halls looking for…well him.

A feral grin crossed his lips since a self-satisfied chuckle was out of the question at such a critical moment, besides he knew that once he nabbed the Jewel of Poseidon he would have more than enough time to gloat…but business before pleasure…oh wait to him this was both.

Entering the large room where all the museum's jewels were kept Yoko couldn't help but roll his eyes. For Kami sake, he was ransacking all of these jewelry stores and museums of their most treasured gems so you would think that they would beef up their technical arsenal just a tad bit. And yet here he was facing yet another laser grid, a camera and motion sensor above the encased jewel and of course visual and audio recorders supposedly 'hidden' on each of the four corners of the room.

To a human burglar this would be damn near imposable to penetrate, but for him this was child's play. It was insulting, if he was going to go through this much trouble to steal this necklace the least they could do was make it challenging for him.

Sighing in disgust Yoko just resigned himself to yet another uneventful heist…

Suddenly his triangular ears perked up and twitched a bit as they picked up the soft sound of the door opening.

His smile returned, 'Well maybe this won't be such a dull venture after all,' he thought before slowly turning his head to see what sort of sniveling guard would be bold enough to not only find but face him as well.

…But as soon as he started at the figure standing in the doorway he suddenly found both of his wrists coiled together by a chain.

His amber eyes glanced down to see that the chains tying his wrists together were golden and had links shaped like delicate hearts instead of the usual oval shapes. He didn't even have to follow the chain to it's owner to know just who his captor was.

Instead of glancing up he roughly yanked the chain closer to him, "Very funny V-chan." Yoko growled, not sounding the least bit amused.

The normally perky and talkative blonde was strangely silent; this did cause Yoko to look at her.

It was Sailor V alright, same ridiculously short sailor girl uniform…not that he minded the view of course, the long blonde hair tied back with a red ribbon, same red glasses that were suppose to conceal her identity, and the chain all added up to one person.

Something wasn't right though.

She certainly did look like Sailor V but her expression seemed to be fixed and grim…whereas V-chan could never keep a straight face for anything longer than three minutes.

His eyes narrowed as he looked into her baby blue eyes, they were dull and lack luster at best, almost as if she wasn't alive at all.

The eyes confirmed it, this was NOT Sailor V and since it wasn't his old London acquaintance he knew that he would feel no guilt whatsoever if he were to tear her to shreds.

Yanking hard on the chain Yoko set out in a sprint to bowl the woman over but just as he was within a foot of her the woman ran towards him as well this time circling him to wrap the chain tightly around his torso causing him to trip and skid across the marble floor.

Pulling himself off the floor Yoko jerked free of the chain only to find that the woman had abandoned him in favor of heading straight for the sapphire and aquamarine necklace.

Jumping to his feet Yoko sprinted behind her and then leaped up to land directly on top of her.

The woman didn't let out a cry or even a gasp as she toppled face first into the floor and sliding right into the first row of laser grids.

As soon as her skin broke across the red laser lines an ear piercingly shrill alarm echoed and all the camera's swirled to focus in on the two potential thieves ducking it out on the floor.

Yoko grinded his right fist against the blonde woman's right cheek bone and just barely missed being clocked by her opposing left fist…however both of them stopped when they heard the guards rushing to the door.

They first glanced at each other, then they turned their heads to the jewel, to the door, then to each other again…there was a split second pause before they bolted off the floor and landed on their feet running to the case.

At that moment the door swung open and the security guards came in shooting their rifles at the two oddly dressed thieves.

Yoko effortlessly weaved out of the pathway of each bullet that came without even looking behind him; the woman, however was hit several times…but this fact didn't slow her down any…it was like the bullets were just getting absorbed into her body without even making so much as an entrance wound.

Finally they reached the glass case but Yoko being the stronger of the two shoved her aside, broke into the glass and then extracted the necklace from it's casing.

Turning his head he grinned at the Sailor V imposter and gave a mocking bow to her, "I'd like to thank you Miss, I have no idea why you're imprisoning a good friend of mine but at least you have made this job challenging."

With those words he pocketed the necklace and raced to the exit door of the room that housed the museum's jewelry.

While Yoko made his escape the woman slowly picked herself off the floor and spared just enough time to brush her skirt off even while half of the guards were pelting her with bullets. Her blue eyes started at the door that Yoko had just exited from and now the other half of the guards were leaving in order to follow him.

The mistress wouldn't be happy with her. She would most certainly kill her if she came back empty handed. Realizing that there was no other choice the woman closed her eyes and surrendered her body to it's suicidal last resort.

For a moment the guards were stun into silence, even seizing their hail storm of bullets, as the woman's rather attractive body began to take on grotesque mutations. Her arms grew longer, down to her knees and bulked up, followed by her legs that sprouted making her almost as tall an adolescent giraffe, her middle bulged outward until it ripped open the fabric of her tight bodice and spilled out to the floor. The sight and sounds of a body expanding it's bones and stretching it's skin was sickening to say the least but the guards took up their guns again and tried to shoot down the creature even as it clumsily lumbered towards them. The tragedy of this situation though was that not even a mountain of bullets could have stopped the enormous claws that sliced right through them as if they were nothing but tissue paper.

Meanwhile Yoko had easily ditched the guards that were chasing him and had just climbed up to the roof of the museum. Now that he was out in the open air he's sides started to shake and then positively ache from laughter. Not only had he gotten away with the necklace but he had also beaten a rival, inferior as she might have been, and had dodged bullets.

Grinning he pulled out the necklace and glanced in his reflection that the deep aquamarine showed him. Nothing could stop him. Nothing.

Not the police, not these so-called technically advanced security systems, not some two-bit 'rival', not his goody-two-shoes acquaintance…nothing.

Fate sense of humor seemed to be alive and well though because just as he was about to leap out off the roof the roof itself trembled beneath him briefly like a mini-earthquake had stricken it's surface.

Glancing over his shoulder Yoko watched as the roof shook again this time harder and the shock lasted longer… not to mention that the roof was cracking up.

The third and final blow not only cause Yoko to momentarily lose his balance but also cracked the center of the roof open, leaving a gaping whole and a hideous monster standing in the middle of it.

Blood red eye narrowed as the lumbering beast glanced around it but then stopped as it's sight fell upon the now tiny kitsune demon. Lifting it's blood stained claws it took a clumsy swipe at him.

Yoko seeing the claws opted to leap on to the next roof top as opposed to becoming impaled on it's sharp digits.

Dimwitted as it was, the monster knew that if she didn't hurry that she would lose her prey…as well as her last chance to redeem herself in the eyes of her mistress. Following this train of thought she lifted herself up allowing the rest of the roof to collapse before pouncing onto the next building, imprinting her large feet into the crumbling cement roof as she raced to catch up to the kitsune.

Racing and leaping across buildings Yoko tried to glance backwards as little as possible while he tried to formulate a plan to either ditch or destroy the monster. He could just let it catch it up to him, luring it into one of his attacks but a problem laid in that plan….the beast was so large that if it stayed on one roof for too long it would…fall through…

Shaking his head Yoko had to mentally quiet his other half to keep him from berating him for not thinking of that sooner.

Skidding to a stop Yoko turned around and faced north just as the beast was beginning to catch up to him.

At first the beast was puzzled but then grinned to itself, it's jaw reveling at least four rows of perfectly sharp teeth. Seeing it's opportunity the beast trotted faster and made a final leap to victory, arching out it's claws to swipe him down.

Yoko easily dodged the outstretched claws in fact he hopped right onto the beast's head and raced down it's back before taking a flying leap to stand on the building that the monster had just sailed over.

Landing on all fours the beast snarled and prepared to charge at him but before she could even lift a foot the roof beneath her started to crackle. Looking down the beast saw the concert sagging and then suddenly break underneath her. Howling she dug her claws into the inside of the building to prevent the fall but her body was far too heavy for her to hold up her entire weight for long and even now the side of the building was crumbling around her.

Glaring up at the kitsune as she scrambled to gain ground the demon snarled, knowing that she was to far away to strike him with her arms she arched her back and lashed out her mace like tail at him. Yoko was caught off guard by this last ditch effort and just barely managed to be crushed by the tail, but the force did send him sailing backward into the air.

Having done all she could the beast slowly sank into the office building as the floors crashed in around her body and glass windows busted as her elongated limbs popped through them. At last she stopped on the ground floor, her enormous form leaving a large crater. Her body shrinking back into it's humanoid shape. Dull blue eyes stared up as ruble freefall to her, a single tear coursed down her face as she closed her eyes…dead a split second before the entire building collapsed around her form.

Across Tokyo a slender womanly figure sighed and took off her headphones and visor glasses. Picking up a clipboard she halfheartedly crossed out 'Experiment 464' then crumbled the paper and tossed it into the wastepaper basket that was in desperate need of emptying since it was filled to the brim with similar balls of paper.

A soft beeping sound drew her to swirl her chair around and glance at the monitor, it was replaying the last visual records of Experiment 464, the kitsune demon was flying through the air, appearing to be unconscious.

A small, almost nonexistent smile crossed her lips, as she moved the mouse around and magnified the image.

Taking a closer look at the kitsune, she chuckled softly to herself.

"Of course. I should have suspected that the great kitsune thief would play apart in this as well. It is in fact his destiny as much as hers," the woman whispered before she carelessly flicked the off switch of the monitor.

Still soaking her in bath and blissfully unaware of the chaos taking place Ami quietly turned the page of her romance novel…even though she had realized that the reason she hadn't read it in a long time was because of it's cheesy and unrealistic plot. A person must be very gullible…or very stupid to just take in a convicted felon into her house just because he was handsome…and that he claimed to be innocent of the crimes people were accusing him of.

Despite it's plot flaws though Ami was thoroughly enjoying herself and was oblivious to the fact that a person was falling through her bathroom skylight until she heard the shattering of the glass and then felt herself flatten against her own bath tub as a body covered her own.

Sapphire eyes wide open Ami pushed herself up wondering what the hell was going on…only to gasp in shock when she found a man…in her tub…on top of her…while she was completely naked…save for a few bubbles.

For a moment all time seemed to have been either stilled or slowed down to a snail crawl since Ami didn't feel her body move the slightest inch as her aerial intruder lifted his head, moaning in pain.

In an instant their eyes meet, hers wide, innocent, and a deep as the ocean, his arched in confusion…boarding on amusement, arrogant and crackling amber.

Time suddenly decided to return from it's brief coffee brake because as soon as a smirk crossed the lips of the stranger Ami screamed and picked up the nearest object to him with…her now soggy romance novel.

Wincing more from the suddenness of her 'attack' rather than actual pain Yoko tried to grab her arm to make her stop but being blinded by bubbles and wet book pages he accidentally stuck his hand right out into the middle of her chest.

Again time stopped, it seems that it didn't get a donut to get with it's coffee, leaving Ami to stare open mouth at the white haired man, her book raised just above shoulder level while he stared at her equally confused for a moment before fully realizing where his hand was.

Giving a sheepish grin, trying hard to show her that he didn't mean any harm he pulled his hand back and lifted both hands up where she could see them.

This however didn't assure Ami in the least, in fact she was now convinced that not only was he a flying pervert…but he also a flying, shameless, and insane pervert.

Needless to say this doesn't bode well for Yoko.

Notes: Yay! Another chapter! …Boo another cliffe. Sorry folks but if I wrote anymore I would have been giving too much of the story away way too soon. Tell me whether you like it or not…kay?


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